Friday Watch

Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:

• China Is Armed With Powerful Market Weapons in Duel With Trump

• U.S., China Begin Crucial Trade Talks as Tariff Clock Ticks  

• China's Electric-Car Mania Draws Parallels to the Dot-Com Bubble.

• Stocks Edge Up in Asia as Tariff Deadline Nears: Markets Wrap. Asian shares climbed with U.S. equity futures as the U.S. and China continued a pivotal round of trade negotiations. The yuan remains near its weakest since January. Shares in Japan and South Korea rose, while futures indicated a rebound in China, with hours to go before Washington ratchets up tariffs. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index ticked up after the benchmark pared losses on Wall Street into the close on Thursday. President Donald Trump said he received a “beautiful letter” from President Xi Jinping and the two leaders would probably speak by phone. Sentiment remains fragile, though, and the gap between 3-month and 10-year Treasury yields briefly turned negative, traditionally a recession warning. Elsewhere, crude oil rose. Japan’s Topix index rose 0.3% as of 9:18 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.1%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.8%. Hang Seng futures earlier rose 0.3%. FTSE China A50 futures earlier advanced 1.3%. Futures on the S&P 500 Index added 0.3%.  

• Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day.

• New York to Kill Its Last Coal Plants With Emissions Rule.

• Netflix Signs Deal With Alibaba to Add Chinese-Language TV Show.

Wall Street Journal:

• Uber Prices IPO at $45 a Share, Near Low End of Range.

• Occidental Wins Battle for Anadarko as Chevron Exits Bidding.

• Can This Marriage Be Saved? Chinese-U.S. Integration Frays as Trade Talks Stumble.

• Symantec Plunges After CEO Exit, Tepid Outlook.

• News Corp Revenue Up Sharply.

Fox News:

• Inspector general probing role of sketchy anti-Trump dossier in securing surveillance warrant for aide.

MarketWatch.com:

• Here are the stocks to buy if an all-out U.S.-China trade war erupts, says Goldman.

• How U.S.-China trade uncertainty could trigger a stock-market buy signal.

• These 15 tech stocks are backed by the quarter’s best sales figures.

CNBC:

• US companies are preparing for pain ahead of tariff hike: ‘I can’t sit here and cry’.

• Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Dropbox, Zillow, Symantec and more.

• Boston Beer to acquire Dogfish Head Brewery in a $300 million deal.

Zero Hedge:

• FBI's Steele Story Unravels - Claims Debunked, Leaks Suspected Before FISA Application.

• Trump 2020: The Real Reason For Impeachment.

• Foreigners Are Dumping Chinese Stocks At A Record Pace Ahead Of Tariffs.

• Chinese Treasuries, FOMC Policies, & The Big Number That Just Turned Against Jay Powell.

• US Seizes North Korean Ship Suspected Of Violating International Sanctions.

• Chinese New Credit Unexpectedly Grows Far Less Than Expected, Raising Many Questions.

• Uber Prices IPO At $45, Becomes Most Money Losing Company To Ever Go Public.

• The Most Medicated Country In The World: 46% Of Americans Have Taken A Pharma Drug Within The Last 30 Days.

• Headline-Chaos Sparks Stock Dump'n'Pump; Dollar & Bond Yields Slide.

Telegraph:

• Germany's budget black hole even bigger than feared, Merkel's government admits.

Night Trading 

• Asian equity indices are -.25% to +.75% on average.

• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 70.75 unch.

• China Sovereign CDS 46.75 unch.

• Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 66.06 +.09%.

• S&P 500 futures +.28%.

• NASDAQ 100 futures +.44%.

Morning Preview Links 

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate

Before the Open:

• (JD)/.83

• (MAR)/1.34

• (VIAB)/.81

After the Close:

• None of note

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST

• The CPI MoM for April is estimated to rise +.4% versus a +.4% gain in March.

• The CPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for April is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.1% gain in March.

• Real Avg. Weekly Earnings YoY for April.

2:00 pm EST

• Monthly Budget Statement for April is estimated to fall to $160.5B versus $214.3B in March.
  

Upcoming Splits

• None of note

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Brainard speaking, Fed's Williams speaking, Fed's Bostic speaking, China tariff increase and the Eurozone Trade Balance report could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by technology and industrial shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing modestly lower. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.